Beauty secrets
The Chicken Spa
Feather baths are important for hens. Especially in summer, they clean themselves and get rid of parasites. If they don’t have a trough filled with a mixture of 1/3 sand, 1/3 soil and 1/3 wood ash and a little diatomaceous earth they will find a place to dig a hole in the ground and bathe there with delight. This show is captivating to see. In the winter, offer a good sand, ash and dirt pit sheltered from snow and rain.
Purpose: Exfoliation of feather wax, cleaning, social activity, relaxation, thermoregulation in summer, etc.
My book published by Ecosociété: Des poules dans ma cour, covers the subject of dust baths in several places. By referring to the index at the end of the book, you can learn more about this important aspect of hens’ behavior!
Bath: pages 25, 52, 136, 144, 147, 172-173, 179, 185, 210
Dust bath: pages 33, 45, 49-50, 53, 93, 119, 128, 130-132, 144, 174-175, 180, 182, 188, 234, 269
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Another coquetry is the conditioning of the feathers. They coat a kind of waxy oil that they take from the base of their back, where the oil gland is located. Moulting is also a phenomenon that appears with hens over a year old and this at least once a year. They lose most of their damaged feathers and replace them with new ones. Some will molt more discreetly, others more visibly. In all cases, the process, which can last 4 to 6 weeks, requires a lot of energy and can stop the laying of eggs.
Educational capsule:
Did you know that wood ashes are antibacterial and antifungal? Wood ashes are very rich in mineral salts, they contain calcium, potash, silica, magnesium and phosphorus. They are a source of food for plants and cannot harm them because they are easily assimilated. There is no risk of overdosing for plants or hens and no risk of polluting the water table.
The internal body temperature of a hen is between 39.8 °C and 43.6 °C / 102-104 °F.
How to cut the wings of hens that fly too high
Don’t worry, the hen doesn’t suffer during the gait. She is just scared of not knowing what is happening to her. Cutting a wing to a hen is like cutting a nail, there is nothing painful, you just have to know how to do it.
Once you catch the hen, spread one of its wings to make the primary feathers clearly visible. These are the longest feathers on the wing. They are sometimes of a slightly different color from the rest of the wing. The feathers that you must cut are the first ten, the longest.
After locating the feathers, take scissors. Preferably use long sharp scissors to cut the feathers. Be careful to cut only one wing, the purpose of the operation is to destabilize the hen and make it turn in circles.
In order to locate where the blood vessels stop. Place the wing between you and the sun (or another powerful light source). Cut just behind this line to remove a large length of feathers.
How to cut the wings of a hens that flies too high
Don’t worry, the hen doesn’t suffer during the procedure. She is just scared of not knowing what is happening to her. Cutting a wing to a hen is like cutting a nail, there is nothing painful, you just have to know how to do it.
Once you catch the hen, spread one of its wings to make the primary feathers clearly visible. These are the longest feathers on the wing. They are sometimes of a slightly different color from the rest of the wing. The feathers that you must cut are the first ten, the longest.
Once you have identified the feathers concerned, take scissors. Preferably take long sharp scissors to cut the feathers. Be careful to cut only one wing.The purpose of the procedure is to destabilize the hen and make it turn in circles.
In order to locate where the blood vessels stop. Place the wing between you and the sun (or another powerful light source). Cut just behind this line to remove a large length of feathers.
Keeping it clean
Chickens have several types of feathers, which all have different roles.
The best known feather is the contour feather, with its rigid and pointed central axis. From the shaft radiate long, fine parallel barbs that are held together by tiny hooks called barbules to form the feather’s palette. This interlocking gives a continuous, solid and smooth surface.
Beneath the feathers of the outer contour is a soft, fluffy undercoat of feather feathers. They have a short stem with radiating beards that are free and not hooked together as in contour feathers. When fluffy, these feathers trap air and hold it still, increasing the insulating (thermoregulating) ability of the feather layer during cold periods. Conversely, in warm weather, chickens can release warm air between the feathers by erecting them, helping to reduce their body temperature.
The feather of the filo-feather is very small and looks like a hair. Filo-feathers are those that are sometimes difficult to remove during plucking and are often found on the underside of birds and on their wings.
Silks are small feathers found around the eyes and beak. They help the hens’ sensory abilities and protect the eye area.
If you watch your chickens smoothing them out, you will see that they often peck at the base of their tails. Why do they peck at the base of their tails? Because they have a gland. This is the oil gland, a small pimple found at the base of the tail after the last vertebra in the back.
The gland produces and evacuates an oily secretion rich in waxes and oil. The hen collects the oily substance in her beak and spreads it on her feathers. Throughout the smoothing process, she repeatedly rubs her beak on her smoothing gland to obtain more oil. The oil not only cleans the feathers, it also keeps them moist and supple, helps to improve insulation and waterproofing properties and even helps to fight external parasites such as lice.
Dust bath
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